Blog
March 6, 2012  by

G is for… Green Brandstorm!

Sherri facilitates the Green Citizen Brand Exploration Session at Seneca College

The Office of Eco-Seneca initiatives (OESi) at Seneca College was developed to promote awareness and increase knowledge of environmental and sustainability issues throughout Seneca, and beyond. OESi’s most recent initiative is Seneca Green Citizen Campaign. As an important step in branding the campaign, G Strategic was thrilled to have the opportunity to consult directly with Green Citizen’s primary audience – the students.

Sherri designed and facilitated a series of “brandstorming” sessions to question student’s potential engagement prior to the full campaign launch in 2012/2013. Three classes of students from the Green Business Management and Marketing programs were asked: “What would it take to get ALL Seneca students excited about being Green Citizens?” Participants were invited to brainstorm ideas that would raise awareness, generate interest and enthusiasm among their fellow students for the campaign.

Direct consultation allows an organization to base communications strategy on solid ground, increasing the probability of successfully reaching strategic objectives. G Strategic believes strongly in the added value of brandsorming!

Green Citizen Brand Exploration SessionGreen Citizen Brand Exploration Session

Green Citizen Brand Exploration Session

A word cloud showing the most popular words from the brand exploration sessions.

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February 14, 2012  by

Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter

Ernestine's Women's Shelter

Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter was opened in 1983 by a group of community members who saw a need for a safe place for women and children fleeing violence. G Strategic has been retained to help Ernestine’s communicate its mission and vision by creating a new visual identity for the shelter. G Strategic is honoured to have this opportunity to help this vital sanctuary achieve its communication goals.

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January 6, 2012  by

Free Branding Survey Infographic!

Branding & Communications Survey 2012

About a year ago (when G Strategic was just a little sprout) I asked Executive Directors, Communications Managers and Directors of Development in the not for profit sector to participate in an in-depth discussion of their branding and communications needs and practices. I surveyed local, provincial, and national organizations in the social services, healthcare, educational, environmental, and arts and culture sectors. The executives and senior managers who were able to generously grant me interviews provided many very thought-provoking insights into the challenges and rewards of using branding, communications and design to express their organizational values and vision to a variety of stakeholder audiences, and in advancing their mission. I think the intelligence gathered in this survey is as relevant today as it was then, if not more so. So, seeing as the recent trend to synthesize and visualize data in infographic form has really taken off, I decided to transform the anonymous survey results into one and share it with you.

What this trend is really about, I think, is that we are all so bombarded by a constant stream of facts that having information transformed into colourful and compelling (even entertaining) visuals not only makes them more likely to be read and perhaps saved or archived, but also makes the info easier to understand, remember, and share.

If you have data that you think would be more impactful as an infographic, I’d love to hear from you!

Click below to download, and enjoy!

Download

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December 3, 2011  by

G is Entrepreneur of the Year!

G Strategic was thrilled to receive a Jobskills Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2011 recently, presented to Sherri by board member Wayne Thiessen. JobSkills delivers the OSEB program for the government of Ontario, helping entrepreneurs by providing business training, coaching and strategy. This excellent program and the passionate and dedicated people who work there were instrumental in supporting the launch of G Strategic in 2010. G Strategic is humbled by the recognition and eternally grateful to the OSEB program, coach Joseph Stevenson, and Jobskills!

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November 14, 2011  by

Brand Exploration Session

RPFF Brand Exploration Session

 

As this years festival was rapidly approaching, G Strategic facilitated a Brand Exploration Session with a cross-section of RPFF stakeholders, from festival founder Chandra Siddan to filmmakers, volunteers, community group leaders and RPFF staff. The group represented a wide range of experience and perspectives on the festival, and their insight and passion generated a synergy that was both inspired and inspiring.

Through a series of facilitated activities, the group brainstormed and pooled their collective wisdom around key topics: exploring RPFF context, defining stakeholder groups and needs, and translating those needs into ideas for RPFF web site content and functionality – as well as exploring other ‘low-tech/no-tech’ communications tools, sensitive to the fact that some stakeholders have limited access to web technology and/or linguistic or other barriers.

The Brand Exploration Session proved rich in insights and real-world observations. Primary research – direct input from front-line stakeholders – invariably provides valuable information and perspectives. In the case of RPFF, this direct consultation embodies two core values of the organization as articulated in the RPFF Strategic Plan 2010-2012: cultural awareness and inclusion. It is also a demonstration of authenticity and respect. All of these values are essential to this strategic process. The energy, passion, and generosity of this group was impressive, and illustrates the dedication to Regent Park Film Festival by all who participated. Bravo!

““What a great session! The format of the consultation, the quality of responses and the thoroughness of your research have been invaluable to the formation of our festival communications so far. You’re leading us to asking important questions about RPFF and towards a better understanding of how we would like to portray ourselves. Really looking forward to the next steps. Thank you!”

Ananya Ohri
Festival Manager
Regent Park Film Festival

RPFF Brand Exploration SessionRPFF Brand Exploration SessionRPFF Brand Exploration Session

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November 14, 2011  by

RPFF Rebrand

 

Created in 2003, Regent Park Film Festival is Toronto’s only free multicultural film festival showcasing local and international works relevant to residents of this diverse community. RPFF is proud of its combined artistic and social mandate which is unique on the Toronto film festival landscape. In Spring 2011 RPFF will move to its new home in the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, in the heart of the stunningly revitalized Regent Park neighbourhood. As Canada’a largest social housing community celebrates its renaissance, Regent Park Film Festival will be celebrating its tenth anniversary.

G Strategic is thrilled to have been asked to help RPFF create an ambitious communications strategy as they boldly move forward. The project consists of conducting a communications audit, an environmental scan, consultations with key stakeholder groups, and a written report summarizing findings. From this extensive consultation, G Strategic will undertake a re-branding process that will include creating a new visual identity, website, and social media strategy, and a range of other communications supports.

Reel Images. Real Communities. Real exciting!

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